Saying Thank You
by angelstryst
Summary: Just a short story that picks up at the end of Flushed. The missing scene that could follow.


_This is just a little thought I had running through my mind at the end of Flushed. What happened after the Fade to Black. I'm sorry but I felt like we could have had a little more M/L for us shippers!_

_As always I own nothing and have nothing so don't sue! Please R&R. Feedback always helps the aspiring writers!_

_ .._

_"The bitch is back," Max said with a wry grin_.

Logan was only able to smile at beautiful woman heading into his kitchen. Unlocking his breaks he glided in behind her and headed for the fridge.

"So what's on the menu, oh culinary master?" Max quipped as she hopped up on the table watching Logan poke through the refrigerator.

"Well… we have leftover chicken a la king, some thing I probably should have thrown away a week ago," he poked his head out with a smirk then turned back to the open door to continue his perusal. "If you can wait for a little bit we can have roasted chicken with risotto and caramelized onions."

"Mmm. I might be enticed to wait if there is a snack involved." Max said craning her neck to see what else was hidden in the refrigerator she was beginning to think he had inherited from Mary Poppins. "You know what? You're the chef, make whatever you feel like." She said flashing a quick grin.

He glanced up at her sitting on his counter and made a quick decision. "Roasted Chicken and risotto coming up!" he couldn't help but smile at her. "It'll take a while to cook so I'll make some garlic bread with cheese to munch on while we wait."

"That sound's fantastic." as if to agree he stomach rumbled leaving her looking slightly amused and a little surprised, "See, even my stomach agrees. Hurry and feed it before it takes on a life of it's own because I won't be held responsible for the consequences."

Logan shook his head as he began to pull out any ingredients that he was going to need. He began to think he had no idea why he decided that he wanted to cook this lavish meal and then it dawned on him. He was happy, more then that, thrilled would be a better word. Thrilled that she was safe and here to raid his fridge and keep him company at all of the hours of the night he didn't sleep anyway. He had been irritated with everyone for asking him about his 'thing' for Max, but now it smacked him upside the head - his life was different because of her. Hell, he was different because of her, and he didn't want to let go of whatever it was they had started to develop.

"Logan… Logan!" Max said snapping her fingers by the side of his head.

He quickly shook himself out of his reverie and realized he was staring off into space holding a chicken by its wing with his mouth agog like he expected it to fly around the room. He looked up to meet Max's eyes and shook his head once more to clear it from his prior thoughts as he spun the rest of the way to put the chicken on the counter.

"Hey, you okay?" Max asked, her head tilted slightly and a quizzical expression covering her face.

"Yeah fine, lost my train of thought that's all." Logan said trying to cover and hoping she bought his lame excuse. He needed more time to ponder and brood over his revelation before even thinking about saying anything out loud.

"You were just looking at that chicken like, I don't know, it started spouting Portuguese."

"Ha, here field commander, slice the bread." He said tossing a loaf of French bread her way.

She caught it deftly and stretched across the gap to grab a knife to slice it so she didn't lose her place on the counter. He couldn't ignore the thin band of flesh exposed as she stretched and forced himself to ignore it and keep going.

"Are you sure you're alright?" She said eyeing him again as he began to dice up the vegetables and cheese wondering to herself if maybe something was wrong. "If you want we can rain check." She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. He had no idea how good it felt to be here with him. She loved her girls, but now she needed to be with someone else. Someone who knew her skeletons and would still talk to her like a person. Logan was the only other person she could even open up to, just a fraction, to let go. She was pulled out of her musing by Logan's voice answering her question after a pause.

"No… No, I'm sorry." Logan said feeling contrite. "I want you to stay." Then almost grimacing at his words he quickly tacked on, "For dinner, and maybe a game or two." No after today he definitely wanted her to hang with him and silently cursed his dumb introspection that could be saved for later.

"Okay, you don't have to tell the hungry girl twice!" She said and resumed cutting the bread.

Dinner was made and left to roast while they munched on the garlic bread and drank some wine. Max enlightened Logan about Break's antics and the guard who liked the size 12 stiletto heels. She told him about how OC and Kendra were given the genetically revved up girl quote and had laughed it off. He couldn't help but see the hurt in her eyes as she told him about trying to finally out herself to her best friends and they figured she was fooling them.

Her defenses quickly went back up and the oven timer went off before Logan could even comment. He rolled to the kitchen with Max in tow deciding to hold his comments. He didn't think there was anything he could say to make her feel better when her best friends had laughed off something as important as her confession.

The rest of the meal was broken by light conversation. The newest bad guy Eyes Only was digging into, the antics from Jam Pony, and other non-crisis topics.

Max decided that she needed to go both because of the exhaustion written in Logan's eyes and the fact he kept yawning. She wasn't able to stifle the giggle that came as he yawned the fourth time in lesser minutes.

"Your tired, and I'm keeping you up when you have to save the world tomorrow, again." Max said grabbing her jacket from the chair and swinging it over her shoulders.

"You are always welcome to stay you know. You don't have to be sick." He said with honesty.

"I appreciate that. I'll probably take you up on it sometime too." Max said as she looked at him. She didn't think she had ever trusted someone this much, let them in this far. A thought occurred to her as she turned and started for the door. "Logan?"

He had been trailing behind her and saw her stop say his name and slowly spin to meet his face. "What Max?" His expression one of curiosity.

She walked over next to him and dropped down to one knee and hugged him hard. He found himself shaking off his shock quickly and returning her heartfelt embrace.

"Thank you." She whispered in his ear, holding on for just a few more seconds then necessary before bounding back up to her feet.

"For?"

"Helping me. Staging my rescue. Oh yeah, and the remarkable dinner." She said with a blinding grin bounding back to her feet and headed for the door.

He managed to get to the door before the elevator had opened for her, "Max!" He called knowing he could have whispered and it would have had the same effect, but emotion had suddenly taken over his voice. She turned to meet his gaze though the open door and smiled as the elevator dinged. "Always." He called just before the doors shut with her safely ensconced in them catching her smile and nod.

Yeah, he told himself, she is a good girl. I wonder if everyone else is right, and I'm just not seeing it? He yawned again and decided to save his thoughts for later as he locked up and moved to the bedroom.

Max sat on the space needle looking over the city and pondered the thoughts revolving in her head. _How whack is that? I managed to escape from Lydecker again by the skin of my teeth. I can't believe Logan and OC came through for me._ A quick glance at the penthouse nestled in sector 9 brought a smile to her lips. _I wonder what would have happened if Logan and I hadn't met? I might have ended up back in Manticore tonight. _She shuddered unconsciously at the thought

_I've been looking for my sibs almost the entire time I've been out of Manticore and haven't had any luck. A part of me just wants someone who is the same and will understand me. Logan's managed to find more for me in a month then Vogelsang was in the past year. _Her eyes wandered over the city while she thought, but were drawn back to the penthouse like a beacon. _Logan… he is such a contradiction sometimes. He's all for saving the world and making it better, but he doesn't seem to care how much he endangers himself to do it. I guess I'll have to stick by him for a while and make sure that he doesn't do anything too risky. It's kinda nice to have someone to talk to anyway. I wonder if he thinks the same about me?_


End file.
